College Sweethearts
by ASAEA
Summary: Tim Taylor meets Jill Patterson and they fall in love. Will the young lovers make it through school intact?
1. Jill, There's Someone I Want You to Meet

Kalamazoo, Michigan 1974:

College was different, at least. Hell, anything would have been better than high school had been. Yes, good old Adams High, where your best friend could steal your boyfriend and everyone, even the lunch lady, knew before you did. In college, if she met someone, then so be it. It certainly wasn't going to be the all-consuming factor in her life. It wasn't like she was going to marry the guy.

No, Jillian Elizabeth Patterson was young, pretty, and looking to stay free of commitment. She was going to concentrate on having some fun and meeting some people.

She'd decided to go to Western Michigan University because of its good communications program and its location far away from Texas, where her father had been stationed since she'd graduated. The Colonel and her mother had, naturally, objected to her being so far away. She should, they said, go to Southern Methodist University…. She'd been accepted, after all, and it was nice and close. But Jill had passed on SMU, determined to attend WMU and be on her own.

Life went on for Jill. Actually, it went pretty well for Jill. She dated. She had fun. She had sex. She did well in her classes and was considered an "intellectual". She also became seriously (well, semi-seriously) involved with the captain of the debate team, Dan Lyons.

Hell, she even got along with her roommate. Donna Gilmore was a stunning blonde who actually had a good personality. It was Donna who introduced Jill to the man who would forever change her life.

WMU, April 1975:

"Jill," Donna said, "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Come on, Donna," Jill responded, "You know I'm starting to get serious about Mitch."

"You married to him?" Donna asked.

"No…."

"Then you can meet Tim."

"Tim? Tim Taylor? Stu Cutler's roommate?"

"Yes, Stu's roommate." Donna was friends with Stu, whom Jill had met, and Tim Taylor, whom Jill had not yet had the pleasure. Stu was on of the biggest jerks Jill had ever met and she was sure Tim would be the same.

However, against her better judgment, Jill allowed Donna to talk her into meeting Tim. As it turned out, this meeting would have quite an impact on her life. And it certainly wasn't love at first sight. At least, not for her.


	2. Tim! I Want You to Meet My Roommate!

WMU, April 1975:

Okay, so it wasn't his finest moment. He'd admit that. He'd had a little too much to drink and one too many people had dared him to do it, so there he was, hanging from the roof of the girls' dorm, panties on his head, yelling, "Send out the virgins to wax my loins!"

Definitely not his best moment and it was certainly not a good time to be meeting someone. But, sure enough, there was Donna, waving her arms wildly, trying to talk to him.

"Tim! Tim!"

"What?" Tim yelled down.

"Come down from there! I want you to meet my roommate."

Sighing and rolling his eyes, he climbed down, yanking the panties from his head as he walked to Donna. "Okay, gorgeous. Introduce me to this roomie of yours."

"Tim," Donna began, "This is Jill Patterson."

Standing there beside Donna was the most adorable woman Tim had ever seen. She was tall, but not too tall; she had deep brown eyes and long, luxurious brown hair. Tim had always been a sucker for a brunette. He was instantly smitten. She looked to be everything he'd ever wanted in a woman: beautiful, great figure, and there was a spark in her eyes that hinted at incredible intelligence, kindness, and compassion.

He straightened and deepened his voice. "Hi. Tim Taylor."

"A pleasure, I'm sure." Jill turned back to Donna, clearly less than impressed. She leaned in close to Donna and whispered, "Can I go back to the party now?"

"Come on, Jill… could you talk to the man for a while? Get to know him. Who knows, you might like him. I know he likes you," Donna answered, her voice equally low.

"Sure. That'll happen…. Fine," her voice raised back to its regular volume, "But you owe me."

"Jill," Donna answered with a sly smile, "I get the feeling that it'll be you who owes me." And then, before Jill could respond, she disappeared, leaving Jill alone with Tim.


	3. Jill, You Wanna Get Out of Here?

So they talked. And Tim charmed. Against her better judgment, Jill found herself becoming attracted to him. Very attracted… and it scared her: something told Jill this man would either be her downfall or her salvation… maybe even both.

"Hey, you wanna get out of here? Maybe talk somewhere a little quieter?" Tim suggested suddenly.

"Sure. You think we could grab a bite to eat before everything closes?"

When they left the party together, Donna saw and smiled to herself. She'd had a feeling about how those two would get along… she fully expected to be one of Jill's bridesmaids… maybe even godmother to their first child. Something just told her they were meant to be together.

They ended up eating meatball subs in the Sears parking lot, still talking.

"My parents wanted me to go to a college in Texas, but I wanted distance," Jill confessed.

"MY mom didn't care where I went. I think she was just surprised anyone had accepted me."

"What did your father think?"

"He didn't have much of an opinion. He died when I was eleven."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago."

"Oh, look at the time. I hadn't realized it was so late. Do you think you could take me back to my dorm now? I have an early lecture tomorrow."

"Sure," he answered and started his car.

When they got to her room, Tim leaned against her door and said, "So, uh, you wanna go out sometime? See a movie later?"

"Well, um," Jill answered awkwardly, "I'm kinda dating someone."

"Oh, well, give me a call sometime, huh? I'm sure there'll still be movies around if you get tired of 'someone'."

He hugged her good-night and when she pulled away, she reconsidered his offer. Just before going inside, she said, "Listen, it's not like I'm married to the guy…. Going to a movie really isn't a big deal… could you give me a call later?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, good. I'll talk to you then," and she turned to close her door.

"Wait! I don't have your number."

"I'm sure you can figure out a way to get a hold of me," she answered, shutting her door.

"Arr, arr, arr! What a woman!" Tim grunted as he walked back to the party.


	4. Friendship, Movies, and Maybe More

Cutler/Taylor Dorm Room, Next Day:

"So, Taylor, where'd you disappear to last night?"

"Oh, um, I met someone and we, uh, went somewhere quiet to, uh, talk."

"Talk! Yeah, you were just talking! Heh heh. So, who was the lucky lady?"

"Jill Patterson." Tim answered reluctantly.

"Jill the Pill? You were just talking, then. What were you doing with her?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing with her?"

"Whoa, don't get hostile. She just seems a little frigid to me."

"Maybe she just doesn't like jerks."

"So, she doesn't like you, either. Look, man, forget about Patterson. She's frigid."

"She's not frigid!"

"You get anywhere?"

"No…"

"My point exactly."

Gilmore/Patterson Dorm Room, Same Time:

"I saw you leave with Tim last night."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you guys were gone a long time."

"How would you know how long I was gone?"

"I just do. Were you with Tim the whole time?"

"Yes," Jill answered reluctantly.

"You guys going out later?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"He hasn't called yet."

"But you said he could, right?"

"Yes."

Girls' Dorm Common Room, Two Days Later:

Fresh from her last lecture, Jill strolls into the common room to find Tim sitting in one of the chairs, talking to Donna.

Noticing her immediately, Tim excused himself from his conversation and went over to Jill. "Hi."

"Hi."

"You busy tonight? Got a date with Mitch?"

"No…."

"You wanna, maybe, go to a movie with me?"

"Yes."

"I mean, you don't have to, but they're showing _That Darn Cat_ down at the theatre and I thought you might like to go and—"

"Tim, I said yes. I'd love to go."

"With me?"

"Yes, with you."

"Good. Great. So, I'll, uh, pick you up at seven?"

"Sure, that's fine."

Gilmore/Patterson Dorm, 6:00 PM:

"What should I wear? I have nothing to wear!"

"Jill, just wear what you're already wearing."

"And make him think I don't care?"

"You care? Is this a date?"

"I don't think it's a date. He didn't say anything about it being a date."

"Then wear what you have on. It's just a movie."

"Yeah, I guess."

Moore's Cinema, after the movie:

"You know, Jill, this was a lot of fun. Us, going to a movie together."

"Yes, it was."

"Would you like to go to a movie Friday? They're showing _Casablanca_…."

"I'd love to. I absolutely adore _Casablanca_. Would this, by any chance be a date?"

"Tonight? Or Friday night?"

"Either one."

"Do you want them to be dates?"

"Well, not tonight. This is just two friends seeing a movie…."

"What about Friday?"

"I would like that to be a date, yes."

With an extra spring in his step, Tim escorted Jill back to her room and strutted back to his own dorm, grinning like a fool the whole time.


	5. The First Date

Friday night, date time:

Friday night came both too soon and not soon enough. Tim breathed deeply as he knocked on the door. There was, he knew, something special, something incredible about Jill and he didn't want to do anything that might ruin his chances with her.

He took her to a nice restaurant before the movie and Jill was impressed. He really was taking this seriously. During the movie, he put his arm around her and she let him. It was kind of cute, really; the way he did that fake yawn thing and moved his arm around her shoulders awkwardly.

After the movie, as he was taking her home, he asked, "So, uh, you got a date for Spring Weekend yet?"

"Well, Mitch asked…"

"Oh."

"But I think I'd rather go with you."

"Oh. Oh! That's great. You sure you wouldn't rather go with Mitch?"

"I'm sure. I want to go with you."

And outsider her door, he kissed her. Sure it was awkward and they got the tilt thing wrong and bumped noses, but when their lips finally did make contact, it was wonderful and memorable and it made something inside her scream that he was _the _guy for her; that no one else would ever be able to match this something that he had.

It was wonderful for Tim as well, even if he didn't quite know what he should do with his hands. Should he hold her shoulders? Cup her face? Cup her….? No, definitely not that. For Tim, this kiss was the clincher, the confirmation of his feeling that she was perfect for him.

The kiss ended on a breathless sigh and Jill giggled a little. "So I'll see you Saturday?"

"How about a movie on Friday? I seem to have great luck at movies all of a sudden."

She laughed a little before agreeing to the date. "You know what's playing?"

"_Dr. Zhivago_, I think."

"Oh, I love _Dr. Zhivago._"

"Great. I'll see you then."

He kissed her forehead and opened her door for her. "Have a good-night," he told her as he gently pushed her inside.

That night, just before she fell asleep, Jill smiled to herself and sighed a little. Was he prefect or what? He hadn't even tried to grope her once the whole night.


	6. Spring Weekend

It was _Dr. Zhivago_ that clinched it for Jill; it was _Dr. Zhivago _that made Jill realize she just might be in love. Sure, it started like any other date: he picked her up, they drove to the theatre, purchased drinks and popcorn and Milk Duds, the chose seats and settled in.

The theatre wasn't crowded, just a few other young couples, also in the first stages of dating. Tim put his arm around her and she snuggled close as the movie started. Later in the movie, during a particularly stirring moment, Jill looked to her date and saw a single tear trace down his cheek.

It moved her, mote than she'd thought anything so simple ever could, and something inside her just knew HE as the right guy, the perfect guy for her, and there was something both comforting and scary in that knowledge… in the knowledge that she could quite possibly be sitting next to the father of her future children. Children…. Did he even want to have children? And, how could she be thinking about marriage and children with this man after two dates? She didn't know. All she knew was that it just felt right.

After the movie he took her back to her room, again pausing at the door before she went in. he leaned in and he kissed her again. it was a kiss like the last one, only that much sweeter for Jill… for her, this time, this was the first kiss of her future… the kiss that would eventually lead to marriage and children and growing old together. As he held her, she saw a vision of a like with him, and it looked wonderful.

Sangren Hall, Saturday night:

Tim felt bad and Jill looked miserable. So far, this date had gone horribly: he had been late picking her up, he'd spilled his drink down the front of her dress, and they hadn't even danced yet. That was what he'd been most looking forward to: the opportunity to hold her close and breathe her in.

Hearing the first strains of Harry Nilsson's "Without You", Tim approached Jill. "You want to dance?"

"Sure, I guess," Jill agreed.

Tim took her hand and led her to the dance floor. Pulling her close, they swayed to the music together. "Look, Jill, I'm really sorry about your dress…."

"Don't worry about it, Tim. It's okay, really."

"Are you having any fun at all? Would you rather go find Mitch?"

"Tim, relax. I like being with you. Besides you're a great kisser. Much better than Mitch."

"I am, am I?"

"Yes," she answered, smiling up at him, "You are." And she kissed him, right there in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by fellow students.

"Arr! Arr! Arr! Does this mean I've got a shot at another date?"

"I'd say it was a good possibility."

Later, when kissing her at her door, Tim held her closer than he had during their previous kisses. "You think we could maybe get together sometime during the week?" he asked, "I don't wanna have to wait until Friday to kiss you again."

"Well," she said, "you could come over tomorrow and we could study…"

"Study? I'd rather make out, but studying works too. I just want to spend some time with you."

"You know, Tim, sometimes studying leads to other thinks."

"All right!"

He kissed her again. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." She nodded, and then kissed him again. "You'd better go."

"I kinda like what we're doing now."

"Me too, but we need to rest up for all that 'studying' we'll be doing later."

"I guess you're right," he leaned in for another kiss, but when they broke away from each other, she quickly ducked into her room.

"Good night!" she called through her door.

"Good night," he answered before walking to his own dorm.


	7. Study Date

Gilmore/Patterson Dorm:

"I think I'm in love," Jill sighed as she leaned against her door.

"In love, huh?" Donna asked in the darkness.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here."

"I live here. In love with who? Mitch?"

"Tim."

"You think you're in love with _Tim_?" Donna asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Is that really so hard to believe? You said you thought I'd like him."

"Yes. Like. A fun fling, not love."

"Oh, but I do. I think. You know, I can see myself married to him, raising his children."

"Children! Isn't it a little soon to be thinking about having kids?"

"I know, I know. But for some reason, I can almost picture our first child. We've got a date tomorrow, so I gotta get some sleep."

"A date? I thought you were gonna study tomorrow."

"That's our date. We're going to study."

"Yeah," Donna scoffed. "Study."

Cutler/Taylor Dorm:

"So, uh, how's it going with Patterson?"

"Well, Stu, not that it's any of your business, but it's going all right."

"Yeah, right. Man, you should give up. You're not gonna get anywhere."

"Shut up, Stu."

Gilmore/Patterson Dorm, the next day:

Books were open, paper was out, and pencils were sharpened, but there wasn't a whole lot of studying going on. Sure, they had gone through the pretense of pretending to study, but they certainly weren't studying…

A hello kiss had soon led to two and three and before either one really knew what had happened, they were kissing each other as if the answers to the universe could be found in the other's mouth. Soon, hands joined the action and petted heavily and it wasn't long until they were making contact with bare skin.

It wasn't until Tim's hand slid to her breast that Jill was startled out of the haze they were both in. "Wait," she groaned.

"Wait?" he repeated, his mind fogged with passion and lust. He kissed her again.

When they came up for air, she whispered, "Do you think we're moving kinda fast here? We've only known each other a few weeks."

He removed his hand and she moaned at the loss. "You're right," he told her, moving away. "We need to take this thing more slowly."

He stood and she quickly grabbed his hand. "Are you leaving?"

"I think it's best, don't you? If I stay here, it's probably going to lead to something you just said you weren't ready for, so, yes, I'm gonna leave."

"Oh," she answered, knowing he was right, but feeling disappointed all the same.

"You wanna catch a movie later tonight? After you've studied?"

"Sure."

And he left. His resolve did not, however, keep them from making out during the movie, nor did it stop him from kissing her rather passionately at her door when he took her home.

"Jill?" he asked, breaking away from a kiss.

"Yes?"

"You wanna go to Rusty's barn dance next weekend?"

"That party in Saugatuck?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I'd love to."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"I just wanna see you. We'll stay in the common room or something. And next time you wanna study together, we'll go to the library."

"Oh, I see. You think staying in a public place is going to keep us from getting carried away."

"Don't you?"

"Well," she said, kissing his neck just below his ear, making his shiver, "We're, technically, in public now and it's not stopping anything…."

"Jill…" he said, warning in his voice. "Maybe you should go inside now."

She giggled as she kissed him again, but she did as he suggested. "Good night."

"Good night."


	8. That Steamy Night in Saugatuck

The drive to Saugatuck was comfortable and quiet. Jill sat next to Tim, his arm around her shoulders and she smiled wickedly as she placed her hand on his thigh.

"Jill."

"What?" she moved her hand a little higher.

"You're playing with fire here."

"Really?" she grinned.

"Yes," he answered tightly. "You know, I don't get you. Last week you weren't ready to go behind kissing and this week…"

"Yeah?"

"This week, you're playing with fire."

"Oh, yeah? Well what if I'm ready this week?"

"So four weeks is the magic number?"

"Tim… you keep talking and you're going to mess this up."

"Oh, oh, don't want that, no," Tim grunted.

She laughed and snuggled closer to him. "It's just that I feel closer to you. Like last week made us stronger."

"Oh, I like strong," he grunted his response.

She laughed again.

At Rusty's they danced for a while before quickly finding a dark corner. They were sharing some rather steamy kisses in a hayloft when Stu saw them. Well, he saw Tim.

"Finally giving up on Patterson, huh, Taylor?" Stu joked, startling Tim and Jill out of their kiss. "Oh, hi, Jill. How's it going?"

"It was a lot better before you came along."

"Uh…"

"Good-bye, Stu," Tim said, taking Jill's hand and leading her away. Stu was left standing in the loft alone, embarrassed, and confused.

"I'm sorry about that," Tim apologized to Jill when they'd made their way through the crowd and were standing outside the barn.

"It's okay. So Stu's been encouraging you to 'give up' on me?"

"Yeah. He thinks you're frigid."

"And what do you think?"

"What do I think? Hmm…" he kissed her. "I'm not getting frigid here."

"Why don't we go somewhere private and I can show you just how not frigid I am."

"Arr, arr, arr. Yeah, why don't we do that?"

He took her to a motel they'd passed on the way to the dance. He got a room and before she could change her mind, they were kissing passionately on the bed.

"Wait," Tim said, breaking off a particularly enthusiastic embrace. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure. I want you. I want you now."

"Well, okay, then," and he reached for a condom.

They made wild passionate orgasmic love well into the night. Well into the next day too, for that matter. By the time they headed back to Western, their bond as lover had been deeply and permanently forged. There was no going back: they were a committed couple.

He kissed her deeply when he dropped her off at her dorm, not wanting their incredible weekend to end. "I'll see you later?"

"If you want to wait a minute, I'll see if Donna's here. If she'd not, you wanna come in?"

"Do I? Of course I do. I've never had sex with you in your dorm."

"You've never had sex with me anywhere other than Saugatuck."

"See? We've got a lot of catching up to do."


	9. Breaking Up is Hard to Do

"I think we should break up," Jill whispered after a heavy make-out session.

Tim and Jill had been dating for two months, pretty seriously for a month, and Tim had been dreading those six little words from the first.

"What? Why?" he pulled his hand from her shirt.

"Tim… it's just that, well, the semester's ending and…." She trailed off, unsure of how to put her thoughts into words.

"And what, Jill? School's ending so we're ending?"

"No. Yes. It's just that I'm going to be in Texas and you're going to be in Detroit and I don't want you to feel obligated to be faithful to me if you meet someone else."

"Is that so? So that you don't feel obligated to be faithful to me? Is there someone else, Jill?"

"Faithful? Listen to us, Tim. We've been seeing each other for two months and we're already talking about faithfulness and we never even talked about being exclusive!"

"Okay. I wanna be exclusive."

"I think we should break up."

"Jill."

"I think it's best. I really do."

"I don't. Listen, Jill, I lo—" he stopped himself from blurting out the "L" word. "I really like you a lot and I feel this could go someplace, but not if you're breaking up with me."

"Tim, I really like you a lot, too, but—"

"But you're still breaking up with me," he interrupted.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Tim."

"What about when summer's over? When we're back at school? What happens then?"

"We'll see how the summer goes. Can we just do that? Please?"

"Yes. Good-bye, Jill. I hope you have a good summer. Hope you find whoever it is you're looking for." Having said that, he left, looking more forlorn than anyone had ever seen him.

"Oh, Tim." Jill said sadly to her closed door. "I love you."


	10. Mopefest '74

So, at school's end, Jill went to Texas, to her parents' summer house near the coast, and Tim went to Detroit, to live with his mother and sell tools for John Binford. Both were absolutely miserable.

Detroit:

"Now, Timothy, what is wrong with you? You've been moping around this house all week," Lucille Taylor asked her middle son.

"I wish I was in Texas."

"Texas? What's in Texas? Her?"

"Who?"

"I don't know. This girl who broke your heart. Why don't you give Stacey Lewis a call? I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

"She's not Jill."

"So her name's Jill. Jill what?"

"Patterson. Her name is Jillian Elizabeth Patterson, Mom. Her father's a colonel in the Army and she's got four sisters."

"You seem to know a lot about this girl."

"I love her, Mom."

"Then tell her that. I'm sure you can sell tools to folks in Texas."

Texas, near the Gulf Coast:

"Linda! Tracy! Jillian! Carrie! Robin! Fall in!" The five Patterson girls groaned good-naturedly as they lined up to humor their father. "All right girls, your mission is to have fun. Get going!" On vacation, sometimes, the Colonel could almost be like a completely different person.

"Jill!" Lillian Patterson called as the girls headed away. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Mom. What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Mom."

"It's not nothing. Jillian, you haven't smiled all week."

"I've smiled," Jill protested weakly.

"No, you haven't. Not really. Not like my little Jilly-Dilly."

"Mom."

"What's wrong, Jill."

"Nothing. I just broke up with this great guy is all."

"That's all?"

"Well, he was a really great guy. With a really nice butt."

"Jill! Who broke it off?"

"I did."

"And why did you do that?"

"So he could be free over the summer."

"That's why? So he could see whoever he wanted while you were gone? What'd he say?"

"That he didn't want to see anyone else."

"And?"

"And that's it, Mother. He's in Detroit doing God-knows-what with God-knows-who while I'm here, lonely and depressed. I miss him so much and it's only been a week. And we only dated two months!"

"A whirlwind courtship, huh?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Go call him. See what he's up to. Come back ready to do something other than mope."

"Yes, mother."

Ten minutes later:

"Hello?" Lucille answered her phone.

"Hi. Is Tim there?" Jill asked, feeling suddenly, inexplicably shy. After all, she was speaking for the first time to the mother of the man she was in love with… and had been sleeping with for the past month.

"No, he's not. Can I take a message?"

"Mrs. Taylor, will you just tell him that Jill called? Please?"

"Jill? You're Jill?"

"Yes. Can you just tell him I called, please?"

"Yes. Jill, I'll tell him the next time I see him."

"Is he gone a lot?"

"He's a traveling salesman."

"Does he go alone?"

"You know, I was under the impression that the two of you had split up."

"Well, Mrs. Taylor, it's hard to explain."

"Jill, don't worry. I understand. Tim's father and I had these kids of tiffs all the time. I'll tell him you called."

"Thank you. Good-bye, Mrs. Taylor."

"Good-bye, Jill."

Two days later:

"Excuse me, uh, is this the Patterson place?" Tim hesitantly approached a young woman, younger than Jill. Maybe her sister; they looked alike, in that vague way all siblings looked like each other.

"Yes, it is. Can I help you?"

"Is Jill here?"

"You know Jill? Yeah. Just a second," she turned toward the door to the house, "Jill!" she screamed, "there's a guy here to see you."

"Okay, okay. You don't need to yell, Robbie," Jill said, coming through the door. "Who is it?" she jerked back a little when she saw him, "Tim!" she gasped.

"Hi."

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, Jill."

"Oh, Tim."

"Listen, I know you said you didn't want to see me, but—"

"I never said that. I just didn't want you to feel committed and---"

"Jill, that's just stupid! I don't want to see anyone else."

"Well, I know that now. I've been just miserable without you."

"Aw…"

"Robin!" Jill said, suddenly reminded of her sister's presence. "Come on, Tim. We need to talk. Alone," she shot a glare to her youngest sibling.

She led him to the room she shared with Carrie. "Tim," she began.

"So you've been miserable without me, huh?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, 'cause I've been miserable without you."

"Really?"

"Would a happy guy get transferred cross-country to be with you?"

"I guess not. You know, that is very sweet."

"Sweet?"

"Yes, sweet. I like sweet." And she kissed him. Hard.

"Does this mean we're back together?"

"What do you think?" she giggled a little as she pulled him to her and eased back on the bed.

"Oh, yeah…" were the last words spoken for a while. The silence was, however, occasionally punctuated with moans, groans, gasps, and the sporadic scream.


	11. A Compromising Position

Forty-five minutes later:

"Carrie!" Robin called when she saw her sister head toward the room she shared with Jill.

"Robin!" Carrie mocked.

"I don't think you want to go in there."

"Oh and why not?"

"Because Jill's in there."

"So?"

"So she's not alone."

"Oh yeah? Who's in there with her?"

"Some guy she'd broken up with. She seemed pretty surprised."

"Surprised? You're not concerned about this? You haven't told Daddy yet?"

"Well, she didn't seem concerned. Actually, she seemed pretty darn happy about it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, Carrie, I'm just gonna say that I don't think they're talking in there. At least, it certainly didn't sound like talking…"

"Robin Patterson, are you saying that Jill is having sex with this guy?"

"WHAT?" The Colonel roared, having very recently come upon the conversation.

"Now, Fred…" Lillian began, "She's a grown woman—"

"She's a child. Furthermore, she's _my_ child."

"What's going on?" Tracy asked, joining the conversation.

"Jill's having sex." Robin announced happily.

"Right now?"

"Yep."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," the Colonel declared and went full charge into Jill's room, not considering the emotional damage he would be doing to both Jill and himself.

He entered the room with a "Jillian Patterson!" only to be stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw. There was one of his little girls, obviously unclothed (although she was covered, thank God), with her head lying on some man's chest while they talked quietly, although their conversation had stopped when he'd burst into the room.

"Daddy!"

"Young lady!"

"Daddy…."

"You have five minutes to be dressed and in the living room. _Both_ of you."

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Daddy."

Three minutes and forty-five seconds later:

"Fred, I need to speak with Jillian."

"Lillian."

"Mom, I can't leave him alone with Daddy!"

"You will do as your mother says, young lady," the Colonel snapped, forgetting that he hadn't wanted Lillian to take Jill on a little heart-to-heart either.

Lillian took Jill into the kitchen and immediately demanded, "Who is this boy, Jillian?"

"His name is Tim Taylor."

"And you met him when? Two hours ago you were moping over some guy from school!"

"That's Tim! He got transferred so he could see me."

"Okay. That's very romantic. But, Jill, you know better than to have… relations… in our home. For heaven's sake, Robin was home!"

"Mom!"

"Do you understand me, Jill? If you and your young man want to be intimate, you cannot do so here."

"Yes, Mom. Can we go stop Dad from killing him?"

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Tim was trying to remain calm while staring into the angry face of his girlfriend's father.

"No, young man, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're not?" To say Tim was relieved would be a massive understatement.

"And I'm not going to yell."

"You're not?" this time, he was doubtful; Jill has said her father was a yeller.

"I'm just going to ask you one question."

"You are," Tim said; ready to answer the standard 'Do you love my daughter?'

"How much is it going to take to get you to turn around and never see my daughter again?"

"Sir?" was Tim's confused reply.

"Okay. Fine. How does $5,000 sound?"

"Sir, I really care about Jill a lot and I don't think any—"

"$10,000 is my final offer. You're still is school, right?" he didn't wait for a reply, "That money would be a tremendous help, I'm sure."

"It would, Sir. But I'm not going to stop seeing Jill, no matter how much money you throw at me."

Their conversation was interrupted when Jill and Lillian came back. Reunited, the younger couple kissed and held hands as they made their way to the beach for a long stroll.


	12. Confessions, Admissions, and Chases

Summer flew by and Tim spent his days selling tools and looking forward to seeing Jill and his nights with Jill. God, he wished those nights would never end. He was, he knew, completely and forever in love with Jill. He couldn't imagine these feelings for her ever changing and it was time he told Jill about them.

It was August and it was almost time for them to return to Michigan and school. Tim and Jill were cuddled up on her parents' front porch when he decided it was the right time to tell her, finally.

"Jill," he whispered in her ear.

"Yes?" she whispered back playfully.

"I have something I want to tell you."

"Oh, yeah?" she straightened and began to pull away from him.

"No, no, don't go anywhere," he pulled her back, "you're gonna want to be close when I say this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so say it already!"

"Well, Jill, I'm not quite sure how to say this…"

"Oh, God, you've found someone else."

"What?"

"Some bored housewife who loves tools and you've fallen in love with her and—"

"Jill!"

"And she's going to get a divorce and you're going to be together—"

"Jill! Listen to me!"

"What?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"Jill, how could you think that I'd leave you?"

"Well, you're gone all the time and you never want to talk about work and—"

"Dammit, I'm trying to tell you I love you!"

"What?"

"I love you!"

"You love me?" she sounded very unsure of herself, not at all like his Jill.

"Yes, I love you," he whispered just before he kissed her.

"So…" he said when the kiss broke off.

"So?"

"Don't you have something you wanna say to me?"

"Do I have something I want to say to you?" she repeated his question with a smile.

"Jill!"

"Okay, okay. Yes, yes, I do have something I want to tell you."

"And that would be…?"

"I love you, too, Tim."

"Do you?" he asked, a bit of playful skepticism in his voice.

"Yes, I do," she insisted before kissing him again, deeper than she should have dared on her parents' porch.

Tim forgot where they were: all he knew was that the woman he loved had just admitted to loving him back, and one hand held the back of her head steady for his kisses while the other crept up her blouse. Needless to say, both were getting a little carried away. However, they were brought crashing back to reality when her father was suddenly standing in front of them, yelling, and brandishing a saber.

"Away from her! Get away from my daughter!"

"Daddy, stop!"

"Jill, Jill, it's all right. I'll be at my room."

"She won't be seeing you again."

"Tim!" Jill sobbed brokenly as she saw him walk away from her.

Faced with a saber and an angry father, Tim walked away, afraid he was never going to see the woman he loved again. He stole one last glance at her, seeing the tears running down her face. Nearly turning back, he was once again confronted with a sharp object. Leaving quickly, he returned to his motel, depressed.

On the porch, a devastated Jill was still crying when her mother came out of the house. Seeing her husband with a saber and her middle child in incredible pain, Lillian demanded, "What happened?" When Jill proved unable to answer, she turned on the Colonel. "What did you do?"

"I got rid of that boy!"

"Fred!"

"He had his hand up her shirt, Lillian! Here in my own home, he was molesting my daughter!"

"Now, Fred. You know he was not molesting her. They're in love."

"They don't know anything about love."

"Fred, the more you try to stop her from being with him, the more she's going to want to."

"I love him," Jill declared softly, to no one in particular, "and he loves me."

"I'm sure he does, dear," Lillian soothed.

"No, he does. He told me."

"Oh, Jill, that's wonderful."

"Lillian, do not encourage this."

"Colonel, it's far too late for encouragement."

"Jillian," her father roared, "how old is this boy?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Jill asked, not sure where his question was going.

"How old?"

"Twenty-two."

"Twenty-two! Jillian, you are nineteen years old!"

"I know how old I am, Daddy."

"Don't get smart with me, young lady. You are not to see that boy again. Do you understand me?"

"Daddy, this isn't fair!"

"Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Daddy."

In her mind, Jill was making her escape plans… they were in love and nothing; certainly not her father's highhandedness was going to keep them from being together. She'd go to him tonight. If their love had to be secret, so be it.


	13. Summer Separations and School Reunions

She didn't manage to escape her father, not that night or any other. He wasn't a colonel in the United States Army for no reason. Her mother's reasoning fell on deaf ears. "It's for her own good, Lillian," was all he'd say. She wasn't even permitted to call him. All contact had been completely and effectively cut off.

And she was not happy about it. Jill spent August in stony defiance. She didn't eat with the rest of the family. She spent the daylight hours at the beach and night sequestered in her room. She didn't talk to her father and barely spoke to her mother or sisters.

For his part, Tim was certain he'd never see her again. It had been two weeks and she hadn't come over or called and he was beginning to give up hope. Maybe she agreed with her father. Hell, he certainly agreed with the colonel. He wasn't good enough for her. No one was. No one would ever be.

He certainly knew she was out of his league. Despite all this, he loved her and she'd said she loved him. Had it been a lie? No, he was sure she wouldn't lie about something so important. Doubts eating away at him, Tim returned to Michigan, hoping he would see her at school.

A few days before classes began, they ran into each other. It was, without a doubt, one of the most awkward moments of their lives.

"Hi," she said hesitation in her voice.

"Hi," he answered, just as reluctant.

"Can we talk?"

"You wanna talk here, Jill?" he gestured to some chairs in the common area they were in.

"Could we talk in private?"

"Jill—" he hesitated.

"Yeah?" she asked anxiously.

"Could you just answer a question before we go anywhere?"

"What?"

"Do you love me? Were you telling me the truth?"

"Yes. I was telling the truth. I love you."

"Still? I mean, even after what happened this summer?"

"Yes. Do you still love me? I can't imagine how hard this last month must have for you."

"I love you. I couldn't stop loving you if I wanted to and I don't want to."

He kissed her, pouring all the love and desire and frustration into that kiss. "My room?"

She nodded, still gasping from their kiss. "Sounds perfect. Let's go."

The door had hardly closed behind her before she was against it, trapped in a searing kiss. It had been a long month apart and both were eager to make up for lost time.

"Bed," she murmured against his mouth. Her own mouth traveled to nip and kiss at the sensitive flesh just below his ear.

"Mmm. What's wrong with right here?"

"Hmm?" she asked, moving back to taste his mouth again.

"I'm having a great time right here," he declared, tracing the ling of her collarbone with his tongue, having already kissed his way down her neck.

"Bed's better," she gasped, trying to lead her lover to the piece of furniture in question.

Giving in, he followed her to the bed. He joined her, unbuttoning her blouse and kissing each inch of newly uncovered skin. She pulled at his shirt, yanking it from his body and throwing it to the floor. She brought his head back to hers, kissing him passionately as their bodies made contact, chest to chest. She moaned in pleasure and he moved to remove her bra.

They were locked in this rather compromising position when Stu walked in. "Hey, Taylor, heard you were— Whoa! Sorry… dude, you should've put a tie on the door or something." He told the duo, who had leapt apart and covered as soon as he'd come in.

"Stu, would you leave?" Jill asked, "Or at least turn around so I can get dressed?"

"Sure, no problem. But you guys gotta go somewhere else. My mom's coming to make sure I'm "settled in". Does it every year. Have fun, Taylor. See ya, Patterson. Lookin' good, by the way," he ducked out of the room before Tim could kill him.

"Let's go to my room," Jill suggested, putting her clothes back on.

"Good idea. We gotta work out a system with Stu for the room or something."

"Later. It's been a month since we've had sex."

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I know."

They had progressed further with their love play when Jill's roommate interrupted them. "Dear God, am I ever going to get to be alone with you?"

"Sorry to interrupt. Didn't know you were back."

"Donna," Jill groaned.

"What?"

"Please leave."

"Can't. Gotta finish summer reading."

"You can't do that in the lobby?"

"Nope."

"Fine, we'll leave."

The couple raced from the room, laughing. "Great. Now we have nowhere to go. And I'm starting to get a little desperate," Jill declared.

"You wanna go see a movie?"

"A movie? No, I don't want to see a movie! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Not even a drive-in movie?" he asked suggestively.

"Oh. Well, a drive-in movie…"

"A private drive-in movie, minus the movie."

"Oh, I see. It would just be you and me, in the backseat of the car… naked."

"Yeah. What do you think?"

"Let's go."

"Really?"

"It's been a long time."

"No arguments from me."

When they returned to the dorms, they were relaxed and pleasant, the tension of the previous month drained away. Oh, the power of orgasm.

"Are we ready to talk now?"

"Honey, I'm not sure there's anything to talk about. Your father separated us and now we're back together."

"There's nothing to talk about?"

"What do you want to talk about, Jill?"

"How about how we could let that happen? How could we let my father tear us apart?"

"He's a military officer! We're no match for that. We did all we could. And, really, we won. He didn't break us up. We're together now, aren't we? We won!"

"Tim!"

"We did. Hell, we just had sex. Your father never wanted that to happen again. He doesn't like that you're having sex at all, let alone having sex with me."

"And just what's wrong with you? I happen to love you."

"And I love you. And your father hates that. He doesn't like me. No one is good enough for you, especially me."

"Is that how you feel?"

"What?"

"Do you think you're not good enough for me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, I think you should let me decide who is good enough for me, okay? And I think you just might be perfect for me, and that's all that matters." She kissed him, desperate to reassure him that they belonged together.

"Jill, it's getting late. Do you want me to take you to your room?"

"Sure."

He waked her to her room, kissing her deeply at the door. "Good-night, baby."

"Good-night, honey. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Sleep well."

"Okay. Good-night."


End file.
